My 6 Cloth Diapering Mistakes

Me and my cloth diapers will be soon celebrating our cotton anniversary. Just like every other relationships we’ve had our highs and lows. There are times that I preached cloth diapers from the top of my roof and times when I sneaked some disposable diapers under my baby’s bums. But we stuck together through thick and thin.

Most of my cloth diapering strategies came from hours and hours of Google and trial and error. After using cloth with 2 kids I am not an amateur anymore. But it took a lot of testing, trying and stripping to get here. So in today’s post I am sharing with you all the mistakes that I made that hopefully gives you a better start with cloth.

I was so scared to spend my money on branded diapers. They all came with hefty price tags. The main reason I went for cheap diapers is because I wasn’t sure if I would be able to convince my husband for cloth diapers. I know it’s not financially possible for everyone to spend so much money on branded diapers but in the long run you actually save a lot of money buying good quality diapers. You see initially when I bought cheap diapers I thought I was saving money but by the time my second baby came my diapers were all looking old, velcro peeling out, elastics relaxed and I had to go and buy another set of diapers again. Had I bought branded diapers from the start I didn’t have to build my stash again and I would have probably be able to resell and get some money back.

2. Not Buying enough diapers:

Less is not always more! Well lesson learnt the hard way. I miserably failed with my minimalistic approach with building my cloth diaper stash.

This was another reason why my diapers wore out rapidly that it was supposed to be. Because the less diapers you have the more they get laundered. I also found myself buying a box of disposable diapers just in case I ran out of diapers (who doesn’t forget to do their laundry?). You see what’s happening. In my attempt to save money I actually wasn’t. I now suggest having a stash of 36 diapers for each baby. Assuming that you wash your diapers every 2 days, there will be enough for rotation when the others dry.

3. Night time Cloth Diapering:

I was so afraid of using cloth diapers at the night. Now when I look back I don’t know what I was afraid of. Night diapering is all about absorbency and trial and error. Start out with what you have in your stash and see how it goes. You might experience some leaks, you might change some bed sheets, but trust me it’s not that hard to figure it out. Sometimes just adding a booster will do the trick.

4. Not cloth diapering from start:

I’m so glad that I cloth diapered Princess from start. Even with her we waited until her umbilical cord fell. I beat myself up for not having her in cloth diapers from day 1. But with Prince I started using cloth diapers after 2 months. 2 full months he was in disposable diapers. I had my stash of diapers sitting in the closet waiting for my approval . I think that was a starting trouble. I needed a push. So here’s a little push from me if your having the same dilemma about cloth diapering your newborn.

5. Microfibre Inserts:

When I started cloth diapering I knew squat about the different type of insert options. There is just too much information out there and you can just get lost with all the terminology. The cheap diapers that I bought came with microfibre inserts and I didn’t think to investigate further. Microfibre has comparatively less absorbent and causes compression leaks. I switched to natural fibres and I’m not looking back. I love hemp, bamboo inserts they hold so much pee (much-needed for my toddler) and easier to clean.

6. Choosing a proper laundry detergent:

A blunder that cost me hours and hours of stripping. I started washing my diapers with ECOS and went by the suggested ‘use half the detergent’ rule. My diapers started to stink and build up ammonia. I needed to set that straight and trust me it wasn’t easy. I now use Tide and proper amount of detergent. Take heed while you are choosing your detergent.

Here is a list of detergents that is approved by Fluff CD love – Detergent Index.